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Hotels with self catering and a door between living area and sleeping area are scarce on the ground and often overpriced. Even something as simple as a fridge

Hotels with self catering and a door between living area and sleeping area are scarce on the ground and often overpriced. Even something as simple as a fridge with usable space, not packed with minibar stuff, is hard to find. Hotels aren't very comfortable places to stay.

TeMPOraL 7y ago
Those places you're looking for are called hostels. They're cheaper and there's likely more of them than hotels in any given place. They're also legal and don't break the social contract. EDIT: I'm sorry, I only just realized that "hostel" in Europe means something entirely different from "hostel" in the US. What I mean by "hostel", per how we use this term in Poland, is a cheaper version of a hotel, where you still rent by the room, and rooms are usually 1, 2, and 3-5 people-sized, and usually have kitchen and a bathroom in the room. They're not like dorms, they don't involve shared bunk beds. I don't know what the right term in the US is. Bed&Breakfast?
- gwbas1c 7y ago
  Extended stay rooms and suites.
- danaris 7y ago
  > and there's likely more of them than hotels in any given place. Not in America. You might find a few in & near major cities, but hotels and motels are everywhere, bed & breakfasts are fairly common, and AirBnBs are plentiful.
  - XaspR8d 7y ago
    My rule of thumb has been that a US city needs to be at least a million people to have a hostel, and at least 4 million to have more than one.
    - knd775 7y ago
      There are quite a few backpackers hostels in tiny towns along trails like the AT. But that's obviously different than what you're talking about.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    So what's the correct term for "a cheap hotel, usually without a minibar in the room"? Because that's what we call a "hostel" over where I live, and I assume in the rest of Europe.
    - danaris 7y ago
      Motel. They're usually what you'd expect from the lowest end of hotels, and (at least around here) a great many of them are left over from the '50s through the '70s—the pre-interstate era, where driving to visit somewhere several hours away usually meant stopping in some little town overnight. I haven't personally stayed in one, because I have enough money that I'd never have to, but the impression I have is that one would contain a bed, a desk, a chair, a not-entirely-spotless bathroom, and not much else.
      - ghaff 7y ago
        That's certainly the image that the "motel" term conjures up. TBH, I'm not sure how broadly the term is used any longer. There are certainly more modern hotels/motels, many of them big chains, that are designed around people driving to them so you can usually park near your room. The quality varies from pretty tired and not so clean, as you say, to--if not upscale exactly--to comfortable, modern, and clean.
        danaris 7y ago
        Oh, yes; there are certainly many chains like Travelodge and Motel 6 that fit the category of "motel" but are more modern and clean. However, I can quite assure you that here in rural Upstate New York (and, indeed, even in some of the less-well-off sections of the cities), there are still a great many motels that date to the era I mentioned—very visibly so. (This is why I qualified my statement with "at least around here".) I have actually stayed in Travelodges a couple of times, and while they were modern, I wouldn't really describe them as "comfortable" (the beds were like tandem canoes) or "clean", at least not universally so.
        7y ago
- exergy 7y ago
  What?! Hostels suck. In principle, hostels have everything. A fridge, a kitchen and so on. In practice, though, you have to label all your food because there is one fridge for 50 people. You need to share the kitchen with everyone else too. Privacy is limited. Noise is biblical. Fucking party dickhead bros everywhere ruining everything. Creaky floorboards and noisy doors. I've done hostels all over Europe, and while there are exceptions, the exceptions tend to cost a bit more too. Hostels are OK when you're young and broke and very adaptable. I used them a lot, and am grateful they exist. But they do NOT fulfill what the GP is asking about.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    I made an edit in my comment. Must be a US/Europe term difference. I don't know what the horror show you described is called in my part of Europe, but over here, hostels have nothing to do with shared fridge for 50 people, or limited privacy. They're just cheaper hotels. Kind of like a motel, except not optimized for cars, and usually in an apartment building.
    - exergy 7y ago
      Ohh! Yep, communication breakdown. What you describe certainly sounds much better than the hostels I'm familiar with.
      - TeMPOraL 7y ago
        Yeah, I started reading the comments in surprise, and immediately headed to English Wikipedia, which revealed the depth of the mistake I made.
        mbel 7y ago
        Well, according to Wikipedia it's the same in polish: https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostel https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostel ;)
        7y ago
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- noer 7y ago
  People in the US would generally call them "Extended Stays" but they're usually as expensive as hotels but not necessarily located in places where you'd want to be. In my experience they're either in industrial suburbs or just off of a highway exit. They're targeted at people who will be away from home for more than a few days and/or where a hotel room is too small/ill equipped.
- barrkel 7y ago
  I think it is not a Europe / US distinction, but English / other distinction? Hostel in Ireland and UK invariably means cheap shared accommodation for young people, with facilities in common areas.
- graeme 7y ago
  Most european hostels are not the kind you describe in poland. They also have shared rooms, shared kitchens.
C1sc0cat 7y ago
There are reputable serviced short term lets you can use I know one team I worked on moved from the Balmoral in Edinburgh to a flat.
ubermonkey 7y ago
The door isn't there, but many "business traveler" hotel lines are closer to what you describe. But yeah, if you want to cook, the options are slimmer. There ARE still options -- Extended Stay America, in the US, for example -- but mostly you'd be better off renting a property and not a hotel room.
- ryanmercer 7y ago
  >The door isn't there, but many "business traveler" hotel lines are closer to what you describe. Exactly, every business hotel I've ever seen has had a fridge, kitchen-style sink and a microwave. Then touristy locations often have condo rentals on a weekly basis which will have proper kitchens and washer & dryer, if you're travelling long enough to need a kitchen it's probably going to be a week or more. Worst case people can do what Americans have been doing for decades, travel with a cooler and refill with new ice as needed. We did this all throughout my childhood when we'd go to Florida from Indiana, we'd eat out for dinner and sometimes for breakfast the whole trip but lunch was pretty much always sandwiches made from perishables kept in a cooler. We'd keep drinks in a small igloo and then we'd usually buy a large Styrofoam cooler for the food.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    >Exactly, every business hotel I've ever seen has had a fridge, kitchen-style sink and a microwave. Not really my experience although a small refrigerator that isn't a minibar is more common than it used to be. Outside of extended stay hotels though, I don't see a microwave or other kitchen-related features very often.
  - barrkel 7y ago
    Business hotels are the kind of hotels that charge extra for everything, because business travellers expense everything.
pintxo 7y ago
In some places (in Europe) this would be called an Apartment Hotel / Aparthotel.
subhro 7y ago
I forget the exact chain, but wasn't Embassy Suites or Homewood suites (or some Marriott brand), was an exclusively, living room + dining + kitchen + bedroom setup? They were also much cheaper than typical JW Marriott, regular Marriott and similar hotels.
- narohi 7y ago
  Residence Inn.

TeMPOraL 7y ago

Those places you're looking for are called hostels. They're cheaper and there's likely more of them than hotels in any given place. They're also legal and don't break the social contract. EDIT: I'm sorry, I only just realized that "hostel" in Europe means something entirely different from "hostel" in the US. What I mean by "hostel", per how we use this term in Poland, is a cheaper version of a hotel, where you still rent by the room, and rooms are usually 1, 2, and 3-5 people-sized, and usually have kitchen and a bathroom in the room. They're not like dorms, they don't involve shared bunk beds. I don't know what the right term in the US is. Bed&Breakfast?

gwbas1c 7y ago
Extended stay rooms and suites.
danaris 7y ago
> and there's likely more of them than hotels in any given place. Not in America. You might find a few in & near major cities, but hotels and motels are everywhere, bed & breakfasts are fairly common, and AirBnBs are plentiful.
- XaspR8d 7y ago
  My rule of thumb has been that a US city needs to be at least a million people to have a hostel, and at least 4 million to have more than one.
  - knd775 7y ago
    There are quite a few backpackers hostels in tiny towns along trails like the AT. But that's obviously different than what you're talking about.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  So what's the correct term for "a cheap hotel, usually without a minibar in the room"? Because that's what we call a "hostel" over where I live, and I assume in the rest of Europe.
  - danaris 7y ago
    Motel. They're usually what you'd expect from the lowest end of hotels, and (at least around here) a great many of them are left over from the '50s through the '70s—the pre-interstate era, where driving to visit somewhere several hours away usually meant stopping in some little town overnight. I haven't personally stayed in one, because I have enough money that I'd never have to, but the impression I have is that one would contain a bed, a desk, a chair, a not-entirely-spotless bathroom, and not much else.
    - ghaff 7y ago
      That's certainly the image that the "motel" term conjures up. TBH, I'm not sure how broadly the term is used any longer. There are certainly more modern hotels/motels, many of them big chains, that are designed around people driving to them so you can usually park near your room. The quality varies from pretty tired and not so clean, as you say, to--if not upscale exactly--to comfortable, modern, and clean.
      - danaris 7y ago
        Oh, yes; there are certainly many chains like Travelodge and Motel 6 that fit the category of "motel" but are more modern and clean. However, I can quite assure you that here in rural Upstate New York (and, indeed, even in some of the less-well-off sections of the cities), there are still a great many motels that date to the era I mentioned—very visibly so. (This is why I qualified my statement with "at least around here".) I have actually stayed in Travelodges a couple of times, and while they were modern, I wouldn't really describe them as "comfortable" (the beds were like tandem canoes) or "clean", at least not universally so.
        7y ago
exergy 7y ago
What?! Hostels suck. In principle, hostels have everything. A fridge, a kitchen and so on. In practice, though, you have to label all your food because there is one fridge for 50 people. You need to share the kitchen with everyone else too. Privacy is limited. Noise is biblical. Fucking party dickhead bros everywhere ruining everything. Creaky floorboards and noisy doors. I've done hostels all over Europe, and while there are exceptions, the exceptions tend to cost a bit more too. Hostels are OK when you're young and broke and very adaptable. I used them a lot, and am grateful they exist. But they do NOT fulfill what the GP is asking about.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  I made an edit in my comment. Must be a US/Europe term difference. I don't know what the horror show you described is called in my part of Europe, but over here, hostels have nothing to do with shared fridge for 50 people, or limited privacy. They're just cheaper hotels. Kind of like a motel, except not optimized for cars, and usually in an apartment building.
  - exergy 7y ago
    Ohh! Yep, communication breakdown. What you describe certainly sounds much better than the hostels I'm familiar with.
    - TeMPOraL 7y ago
      Yeah, I started reading the comments in surprise, and immediately headed to English Wikipedia, which revealed the depth of the mistake I made.
      - mbel 7y ago
        Well, according to Wikipedia it's the same in polish: https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostel https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostel ;)
        7y ago
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
noer 7y ago
People in the US would generally call them "Extended Stays" but they're usually as expensive as hotels but not necessarily located in places where you'd want to be. In my experience they're either in industrial suburbs or just off of a highway exit. They're targeted at people who will be away from home for more than a few days and/or where a hotel room is too small/ill equipped.
barrkel 7y ago
I think it is not a Europe / US distinction, but English / other distinction? Hostel in Ireland and UK invariably means cheap shared accommodation for young people, with facilities in common areas.
graeme 7y ago
Most european hostels are not the kind you describe in poland. They also have shared rooms, shared kitchens.

C1sc0cat 7y ago

There are reputable serviced short term lets you can use I know one team I worked on moved from the Balmoral in Edinburgh to a flat.

ubermonkey 7y ago

The door isn't there, but many "business traveler" hotel lines are closer to what you describe. But yeah, if you want to cook, the options are slimmer. There ARE still options -- Extended Stay America, in the US, for example -- but mostly you'd be better off renting a property and not a hotel room.

ryanmercer 7y ago
>The door isn't there, but many "business traveler" hotel lines are closer to what you describe. Exactly, every business hotel I've ever seen has had a fridge, kitchen-style sink and a microwave. Then touristy locations often have condo rentals on a weekly basis which will have proper kitchens and washer & dryer, if you're travelling long enough to need a kitchen it's probably going to be a week or more. Worst case people can do what Americans have been doing for decades, travel with a cooler and refill with new ice as needed. We did this all throughout my childhood when we'd go to Florida from Indiana, we'd eat out for dinner and sometimes for breakfast the whole trip but lunch was pretty much always sandwiches made from perishables kept in a cooler. We'd keep drinks in a small igloo and then we'd usually buy a large Styrofoam cooler for the food.
- ghaff 7y ago
  >Exactly, every business hotel I've ever seen has had a fridge, kitchen-style sink and a microwave. Not really my experience although a small refrigerator that isn't a minibar is more common than it used to be. Outside of extended stay hotels though, I don't see a microwave or other kitchen-related features very often.
- barrkel 7y ago
  Business hotels are the kind of hotels that charge extra for everything, because business travellers expense everything.

pintxo 7y ago

In some places (in Europe) this would be called an Apartment Hotel / Aparthotel.

subhro 7y ago

I forget the exact chain, but wasn't Embassy Suites or Homewood suites (or some Marriott brand), was an exclusively, living room + dining + kitchen + bedroom setup? They were also much cheaper than typical JW Marriott, regular Marriott and similar hotels.

narohi 7y ago
Residence Inn.